The present invention relates to devices for making bubbles and, more particularly, to devices for making bubbles for entertainment purposes.
Devices for making bubbles from thin films of soapy fluids have been popular for a long time, especially for entertaining children or others at parties, parades or other festive occasions.
To make bubbles, most prior art bubble making systems begin with the submersion and extraction of a rigid loop in a reservoir or container of highly viscous fluid. Then, air is blown through the loop, or the loop is waved through the air, to create a stream of bubbles.
One prior art design (marketed under the trademark BUBBLE-THING.TM. by David Stein Incorporated, New York, N.Y.) utilizes a flexible strip of absorbent material or fabric rather than a rigid loop. Both ends of the strip are attached to a short rod, with one end of the strip fixed and the other end slidable along the rod. To operate this device, a user first saturates the fabric with "magic" fluid, keeping the fabric's slidable end immediately adjacent to its fixed end. Then, holding the rod out with the material hanging down, the user slides the movable end away from the fixed end, allowing air to flow through the V-shaped, film covered opening, to create bubbles.
Both rigid-loop and sliding-fabric type devices of the prior art have inherent practical limitations which constrain the size of the bubbles which may be created. As the diameter of rigid loops is increased, the size of the fluid container must also be increased. Also, as loop diameter is increased, it becomes more difficult to maintain a cohesive fluid film across the loop to expose to a current of air.
The size bubble which can be created by a sliding fabric device is limited by the height of the user because the bottom of the V-shaped opening of the fabric can hang no lower than the surface upon which the operator is standing. The shorter the operator, the smaller the bubble. Additionally, such prior art devices cannot readily be extended above or away from the user to catch the wind. They cannot readily be whipped or undulated through the air and, consequently, they are quite dependent on prevailing wind conditions for their effectiveness.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved bubble making system, and, in particular, to provide a system which can make very large bubbles for the entertainment of children or others at parties, parades and other festive occasions.
Another object of the bubble making system of the present invention is to provide a bubble maker which is readily extendible to above or away from the operator to reach into a wind, or to be undulated or whipped by the user, to make bubbles.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a bubble making system which is light and easy to use and can be used safely and effectively by small children.
It is a further object to provide a bubble making device which is collapsible and, thus, easily portable.
It is still a further object to provide a bubble making system which may be fabricated of uncomplicated, common components so the device is easy and inexpensive to manufacture.
The above and additional objects of this invention will become more apparent when the following description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.